Institute of Industry Analyst Relations (IIAR)The IIAR is a not-for-profit organisation established to raise awareness of analyst relations and the value of industry analysts, promote best practice amongst analyst relations professionals, enhance communication between analyst firms and vendors, and offer opportunities for AR practitioners to network with their industry peers.

Archive | AR

Effective measurement has become a bit of a challenge for AR practitioners, as stakeholders are demanding more tangible, immediate results that can easily be linked to business outcomes. With smaller teams and tighter budgets, AR professionals are under immense pressure to justify investment and prove overall value.

A major hurdle that I keep seeing, especially in organisations that don’t yet have mature AR programmes, is the inability to set AR-relevant objectives. Too many organisations still try and measure AR in the same way as PR and get massively frustrated by the meatier up-front investment and absence of immediate results. Continue Reading →

Introduction – a glass of wine…

For a start, a bit of background. I never meant to be an industry analyst, not as such: indeed, having done my time as a programmer, then IT manager and various forms of consultant, I hadn’t a clue what one was. Back in 1998, I was responsible for training and other informational services at a mid-sized consulting firm when a report from a company called “Butler Group” came across my desk. That was my first connection with the world of analysts.

A year or so later, I was looking for something new (a cyclic habit in my career); I was also drinking a rather fine glass or two of red, when I stumbled across an advert from Bloor Research. With my inhibitive defences down, I banged off an email straight away. I barely had time to regret it, as the following Monday I went for an interview… and the rest is an 18-year career.

These were exciting times. At the turn of the millennium the dot-com was still bubbling up: we launched a couple of web sites and face to face forums at the time (IT-Director and IT-Analysis) and set to making the most of the complexity and uncertainty, charging for clarity and simplicity. I remain proud of my 2001 report about the inevitable move towards universal service provision. We call it the cloud these days.

I paraphrase history, but by and large, analyst firms emerged in the mid-1990’s, as attention moved from bespoke ‘turnkey’ solutions and towards custom-built software. From there, they made sure to cover the space like any good ecosystem. So, has anything changed, over the past two decades?

I have worked for a variety of smaller firms and I have done a short stint at a bigger one —IDC. I’ve spent an awful lot of time hanging out with analysts, AR professionals and the firms they represent. I’ve also spent some time not being analyst, working behind the scenes to help some of the largest vendors tell their stories. And this, to an extent, is mine.

I don’t know if you are familiar with the C.S.Lewis classic, The Screwtape Letters — written from an old devil to a little demon? In a similar vein, I thought I’d capture some of the things I might tell my younger self. As they say, getting it wrong is the best form of experience, and it is good to share.

Since becoming an industry analyst almost two years ago, I’ve sat in on nearly 100 vendor briefings and have some tips and do’s/don’ts to share to help you prepare for your next analyst session. First, know that Constellation is a firm very accessible to technology companies of all sizes and no, you don’t have to be a client to brief us. Based on availability and relevance to my coverage areas, I’m happy to take the call and enjoy helping young start-ups.

Let’s ensure we both get the most out of our limited time together, so here are my tips for you :

Do:

Be respectful of the analyst’s time. Our free briefings are 30 minutes, and if I’m able to, I will often extend to 45 mins (at my discretion).

A little light research to understand who I am and my coverage areas (Marketing (B2B and B2C), Sales, and Customer Experience. I prepare by visiting your company website and learn about you on LinkedIn before the call, please extend that courtesy.

Le CXP is one of the oldest IT analysis firms around. It was created in 1973, six years before Gartner, under the auspices of the French Ministry of Industry by some of the largest French companies at the time: Air France, Anotec, Bred, BSN (now Danone), EDF, RATP and the Société Générale. Its remit was to provide expertise on packaged software -hence the name in French, the deliciously quaint Centre d’Expertise des Progiciels. It’s been doing just this plus some consulting for IT users, gently and in French (Americans would call this in “local language”) until it bought PAC, a rival but vendor-focussed French firm, in 2014. At last I should say, and after PAC’s founder, Pierre Audoin, passed away.

A few months ago, I joined IIAR’s webinar focused on the IIAR Analyst Relations Professional and Team of the Year 2017. Every year, the IIAR awards analyst relations (AR) professionals and teams based on the results of an annual survey shared with the global industry analyst community. The survey gathers the analysts’ collective insight on AR professionals and their performance, and then the IIAR contrasts it with results from the previous year, based on level of responsiveness, relationship and results (also known as the IIAR’s Three R’s of AR). Continue Reading →

Vendors spend a lot of time and money on these events. Presumably, they want to deepen their relationships with analysts and influencers, and give them the insights they need to offer constructive feedback and provide perspectives to the broader market. However, like Jon, I’m constantly amazed at how often they seem to miss these marks–as evidenced by analysts that have tuned out to look at news, email or sports on their laptops or phones. So here are my suggestions for how to create an analyst day that will help you better engage with analysts. Continue Reading →

Informatica is holding its customer conference in a few weeks and we’re running around like chickens with our heads cut off to prepare for it. I just blasted out the most obnoxious email to colleagues who are preparing speeches for Informatica World, forcefully reminding them that any references to analyst research requires permission. I got a lot of eye rolling in response, but luckily no serious push back. Continue Reading →

Industry Analyst Relations is often characterized as a “Pay to Play” endeavor with little opportunity for the bootstrapped tech venture; this is not the case. I would argue that there are opportunities for a dedicated Tech Startup to benefit from pursuing Industry Analyst Relations (IAR) even without a large budget to spend. Keep in mind Industry Analysts are knowledge focused experts and there can be equitable and beneficial exchanges of information for those who have put forth the effort to develop their Analyst Relations program and build the necessary relationships in the community. For those new to Industry Analyst Relations and who are considering the reasons to perform IAR, below are some common misconceptions, followed by four compelling reasons to develop an Industry Analyst Relations mission early in a Tech Startup. Continue Reading →

Looking to raise your profile in the AR world? / Want to help shape the IIAR worldwide? / Want to be a part of a globally recognised organisation?

The IIAR is looking for new Board members to stand at this year’s election.

To be an IIAR Board member is a great way of raising your profile in the industry and giving you a little something extra to put on your CV or Resume.

What’s more, if you’ve ever felt you could do things better, or would like to see some changes within the IIAR, then now’s your chance. Take this opportunity to get involved in decision-making and put your great ideas into practice! Continue Reading →

The Applied Intelligence division of BAE Systems delivers solutions which protect and enhance the connected world. Everything we do creates a safer future. We want to solve problems for our customers and by bringing together great minds, we can work together to make the world a safer place.Continue Reading →

The Applied Intelligence division of BAE Systems delivers solutions which protect and enhance the connected world. Everything we do creates a safer future. We want to solve problems for our customers and by bringing together great minds, we can work together to make the world a safer place.Continue Reading →

As the Information Company, our mission at OpenText is to create software solutions and deliver services that redefine the future of digital. Be part of a winning team that leads the way in Enterprise Information Management.

On Friday 11th May 0800 PDT / 1100 EDT / 1600 BST, IIAR member Gerry Van Zandt (LinkedIn, @gerryvz) from the Oracle Analyst Relations team will host an interactive discussion about how AR can better measure results, and more importantly how AR can better utilize these results.

AR managers and leaders tend to be highly focused on maximizing their firm’s placement in key analyst competitive evaluations, and improving what analysts are saying about their firm to their end-user clients.

However, the process doesn’t stop there! Often, AR misses the more important aspect: How can we as AR practitioners and leaders get our hard-earned results into the hands of the right people? The sales and marketing teams; customer prospects; and existing customers? How can we leverage and multiply the benefit of key analyst research to support the teams out there winning sales deals?

Feeling the pinch in your negotiation with Forrester on your subscription contract?Do you feel comfortable in buying the multiple seats being pushed your way? Is Forrester covering the technology and business areas that are important for you? You’re not alone – many of your peers and IIAR members have commented (see the IIAR Tragic Quadrant 2017)

Forrester seems to force sell multiple seats, TEIs etc during renewals.Forrester analysts may be amongst the top IIAR Analyst of the Year 2017 but is Forrester seeing an exodus of top talent? As per theIIAR Analyst Firm of the Year 2017survey, AR professionals mentioned that they felt a flip flop in Forrester’s focus on various key topics and verticals. Also the research subscription costs seem to be increasing at 10-20% yoy. They also felt that while Forrester had some great visualisation of data BUT insights were focused on niche topics like Customer Experience, Business Technology, Software and Marketing. Many Wave’s have not been renewed while others are renewed in an irregular cycle. Continue Reading →

Feeling the pinch in your negotiation with IDC on your subscription contract? Do you feel comfortable in buying the various Customer Segment (CS) options being pushed your way? Are you confident that you are getting value from your contracts? You’re not alone – many of your peers and IIAR members have commented (see the IIAR Tragic Quadrant 2017)

The Director, Public Relations and Analyst Relations is responsible for driving worldwide public and industrial relations programs that elevate awareness, drive demand and communicate brand promise across multiple media platforms. Reporting directly to the Chief Marketing Officer, this critical role will build, develop and lead a team of professionals, manage corporate public relations and industry analyst activities including programs/campaigns, announcements, customer successes, events, agency management, joint PR with select partners, and competitive programs. Continue Reading →

Appian is seeking an analytical, technical and research oriented professional with great communication skills to join the marketing organization in the role of Analyst Relations Manager. This person will play a critical, cross-functional role by working with subject matter experts at many different levels of the organization: executives, product strategy, product management, engineering, finance, partner, legal, sales and marketing teams. You will interact with people in Appian to build and nurture strong internal relationships that will be leveraged to engage with leading analyst firms, participate in research evaluations/RFIs, brief analysts about Appian’s product offerings, go-to-market strategies and work with the influencers to elevate Appian’s story. Continue Reading →

Unisys is a global information technology company that builds high-performance, security-centric solutions for the most digitally demanding businesses and governments on Earth. Unisys offerings include security software and services; digital transformation and workplace services; industry applications and services; and innovative software operating environments for high-intensity enterprise computing. For more information on how Unisys builds better outcomes securely for its clients across the Government, Financial Services and Commercial markets, visit www.unisys.com.

Unisys are currently seeking a Third Party Advisor, for a contract role, to optimize the Third Party Advisor channel to generate profitable and sustainable revenue as well as build relationships with key IT industry analysts. Continue Reading →

Analysts are recognizing Microsoft for its remarkable transformation and at the same time there is an explosion of digital transformation research. As a result, we are looking for a technologically perceptive individual to craft and execute our analyst engagement strategy for Business Applications. Satya Nadella has identified business applications as one of Microsoft’s five customer-focused solution areas. Satya along with our cloud leaders understand how each business process can and is being digitized. Dynamics 365 and LinkedIn Business Solutions are core to our success. Analysts recognize the business disruption opportunity as well. As a result, many industry experts are crafting research to help customers choose the right strategy, the right technology and the implementation best practices. The ideal candidate will foster the right relationships and a strategic advisor to ensure Microsoft’s presence and positive perceptions in this research.

If you have a passion for driving thought-leadership initiatives and love the art and science of building industry relationships, we’d love to talk with you. You are known as a strategic advisor, and a knowledgeable business partner. You are optimistic, willing to try new approaches, have the desire to learn and the resilience to press on.

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The opinions expressed on this blog post are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of their employers or other members of the IIAR.

While every effort has been made to ensure accuracy and compliance with copyright laws, we can’t be held liable for any unintentional misrepresentation on this post but are happy to correct any wrongs quickly.